Searching the Cochrane Library

This guide is intended to offer assistance in searching the Cochrane Library. For topics not addressed here, contact a reference librarian (click on Ask Us button above).

About the Cochrane Library / Getting Started / Searching / Viewing Results / MeSH Searching / Saving and Printing

About the Cochrane Library

The Cochrane Library (Clib) is the premier resource for information on evidence based medicine.  It is a product of the Cochrane Collaboration, the NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination and others.   The Cochrane Library consists of eight databases.  Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR): full text of completed reviews carried out by the Cochrane Collaboration, plus protocols for reviews currently in preparation.  Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE): abstracts of other systematic reviews; comment on the quality of the methodology of reviews published in the medical literature.  Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR/CENTRAL): references to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) identified through hand searching of journals and databases. Also the Medical Editors Trials Amnesty, notifications of unpublished trials, with contact details.  May be over-inclusive and contain references to trials that prove to be non-randomized. Cochrane Database of Methodology Reviews: full text of completed reviews relating to research methodology carried out by the Cochrane Collaboration, plus protocols for reviews currently in preparation.   Cochrane Methodology register): references to articles, etc. dealing with the science/methods of systematic reviews, RCTs, etc.  

Getting Started with the Cochrane Library

1. Open your Internet browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer) and go to the CSC Library homepage http://www.stkate.edu/library           

2. Click on Find Articles

3. Scroll down to Cochrane Library

On Campus Users: click on Cochrane Library

Off Campus Users: Click on the link for getting the database password or for accessing by EZproxy. 

Password access will require you to have a College of St. Catherine computing account and password.  Click on the password link. Type your College of St. Catherine username and password.  Write down the password for Cochrane Library from the list of database passwords.Click on the Connect to Cochrane Library now link.  Type the database login and password.

EZproxy access will require you to have a valid College of St. Catherine ID and barcode. Click on the link for EZproxy.  Select Cochrane Library from the database list and login using your College of St. Catherine library barcode (the 14-digit number on your CSC ID card).

4. At the Cochrane Library screen, CLICK on the gray ENTER button (ignoring the box for username and password).  You will arrive at the Cochrane Library screen with a a search dialogue box at the top.

Searching

Enter keywords in the search dialogue box at the top of the screen and click on the search button.  The screen will refresh, revealing the number of 'hits' (records) you have found with that particular search on the right of the screen. 

Use quotation marks to search for terms as a phrase, e.g. "myocardial infarction" or "hip replacement"

Here, we've entered the search phrase "low back pain" in the dialogue box.

Combining Terms: Search terms can be combined using AND, OR or NOT (Boolean operators).  AND will restrict your search by finding records containing both terms e.g. "myocardial infarction" and aspirin.  OR will broaden your search by finding records containing either term e.g. cancer or neoplasm.  NOT will find records containing one term but not the other, e.g. "breast cancer" not male.

Truncation: use an asterisk * to truncate terms, e.g. arter* will retrieve artery, arteries, arterial, etc.

Proximity searching: use the word NEAR to search for words occurring within six words of each other, e.g. hospital NEAR units

Here, we've searched for the phrases "low back pain" AND "exercise therapy"

Viewing Results

To view the results of a search in a database, click one of the links listed along left hand side of the screen. A title list of the retrieved documents will display. To view the text of a document, click on it's title.

Here is the Complete Reviews title list for the search "low back pain" and "exercise therapy"

Full text reviews typically look like this one and include a cover sheet, background, methods, results, discussion, references and tables and graphs.

Viewing the Metaview graphs (odds-ratio diagrams)

Odds-ratio diagrams (found in most complete reviews in CDSR) are viewed through a separate piece of software called MetaView.  To view the diagrams, it is necessary for this software to be downloaded onto the machine on which you are using the Cochrane Library.  Alternatively, the diagrams can be viewed from within the text of the review, in the 'Tables & Graphs' section.

Installing MetaView software (for MS Windows users only):

1.Click here to download the MetaView installation program (called mvsetup.exe). Save the
file in a temporary directory (e.g., C:\TEMP) and click the OKAY button.
2.Once the file is downloaded, click on the windows START button, then select RUN and click on the BROWSE button to locate the mvsetup.exe file where you saved it (e.g., C:\TEMP\mvsetup.exe). Select the mvsetup.exe file and click on OK. This will run Install Shield and extract all the necessary setup files into your temporary directory. Click OK and FINISH as prompted.

Once you have installed the MetaView software, view an odds-ratio diagram by clicking on Metaview graphs (in the Tables and Graphs section of a review.) You will be prompted to save the graph and may do so in your temporary directory (e.g., C:\TEMP). Double click on the metaview document you saved to view it.

Please contact Update Software if you experience any problems installing MetaView

MeSH Searching

Many records in the Cochrane Library are indexed using MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) from the National Library of Medicine. It is good practice to search the databases using these index headings as well as by using keywords. 

• You may begin MeSH searches by clicking on the MeSH button at the main search screen.  Type your term and click on the Thesaurus button. 
• You will see an index list of subject headings.  Select the appropriate heading from this list and this will take you to the MeSH tree for that heading, showing broader and narrower terms around the selected term. 
• To search for the selected term on its own, select 'single term.'  If the term has more specific terms available you can choose to 'Explode the search' which will search for the selected term AND records indexed using more specific terms.  Your MeSH search will be added to your search history, allowing it to be combined with other searches.

This is the tree structure for the medical subject heading low-back-pain, showing narrower and broader terms.

Search History

This keeps a record of all the searches you have done in a session and allows you to combine individual searches.  Do so by entering the set numbers in the search box. e.g. #1 and #2.

Saving and Printing

1. While viewing a full text review, click on File on the menu bar and click on Save as
2. Type the file name and select the drive and directory (choose A: if saving to a floppy disk or C: if saving to the hard drive on your computer).
3. Give the file a name and type it in the FILENAME box.
4. Click on Save. 

Printing

To print the article that you are presently viewing, click the Print icon on the browser menu bar. Most tables, figures, and metaviews must be viewed and printed or saved separately. 

Exit

The College of St. Catherine is authorized for a limited number of users for the Cochrane Library. Be sure to exit the Cochrane web site when finished searching.